Lead Article

CONTENTS

Keep or Dump?
Sadhguru on Break-Up Thoughts

Musings

Sadhguru on Meditation and Day-to-Day Problems

Enjoy the Drama

6 7

Living in a Consecrated Space

A Phenomenal Difference

In Conversation with the Mystic

Sadhguru in Conversation with Actor Siddharth

Leela Series The path of the playful part XLIV:

Draupadis Plight 11 Join Green Hands in Celebrating World Environment Day! India A Phenomenon of Possibilities
Sadhgurus Talk at Emory University

Project Feature

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News & Happenings

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Sadhguru at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Grace Multiplied

Pournami Pooja and Sathsang with Sadhguru at iii

Sadhguru Spot

The Exuberance of Yaksha 18

Upcoming Programs and Events

Hata Yoga A Way of Life and of Making a Living Isha Yoga Program Highlights Watermelon Juices with a Twist

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Isha Recipes For Healthy Living Zen Speaks: Matter is Empty

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SADHGURU

Keep or Dump?

Sadhguru on Break-Up Thoughts

The following is an excerpt from a Q&A session with Sadhguru during a meditators sathsang at the Isha Institute of Inner Sciences, McMinnville, Tennessee, USA, on 15 June 2009.
it matters to you when you are getting dumped or looked over. For thousands of years, everywhere in the world, people settled for some kind of marriage arrangement. Different societies handled this in different ways, but they all settled for a committed structure. Once two human beings share a certain intimacy, it must happen in a committed atmosphere. If intimacy happens without the necessary commitment, it leads to disorganization of the human being and in turn disorganization of the society. Krishna spoke about this subject 3500 years ago it was child psychology at its best: Once people have uncommitted relationships and children grow up without a sense of belonging to their parents, they may not become great human beings. This is not an absolute judgment but a general tendency. If children have no parents but they are integrated within themselves, they may still grow up well. But if children have this confusion in their minds during their formative years, they will live with this confusion for the rest of their lives.
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Questioner: After starting on the spiritual path, I found that my partner is not right for me anymore. How to handle that? Sadhguru: Dump him and pick up the next guy. No, this is not my advice. This may be your idea; not just for spiritual reasons for any reason. You pick up one person for romance, one for spirituality, and yet another one for pleasure. Once human beings become material for you that you can pick up and dump, you have missed the fundamental point of life. There is a price for this. Every action has a consequence.
It does not matter how modern you get, you still suffer pangs of jealousy and pangs of loss. Have you become absolutely all-embracing consciousness, that it does not matter where your wife or your husband goes and what happens? It does matter to you. You may have dumped a dozen people but still
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Above all, the physical body has its own memory, which is called runanu bandha in yoga. Whether it is the kind of food you eat or the atmosphere you are in, the body remembers it all. Suppose you come back for another lifetime I hope you dont your body will remember everything. This runana bandha is particularly strong when a certain physical intimacy happens. In the East, people were always particular about what kind of atmosphere you are in. Therefore, different aspects were set up in certain ways, like how you should start your day, how your house should be kept, and that in your house, always a lamp should be burning. Even if you do not have the necessary brains to choose the right thing but your body carries the right kind of impressions, it can draw you in the right directions. If it carries the wrong kinds of impressions, in spite of you, it will take you somewhere else. Even touching a person leaves a certain imprint. You know they say, Till death do us apart, because without commitment, there should be no intimacy. In the name of modernity, we are loosening this, for which we will pay a huge price. This situation creates a high level of emotional insecurity. When you are emotionally insecure, neither your body nor your brains function properly. The level of psychological imbalances will flare up dramatically in one or two generations unless we do something to fix it. If your relationship has gone bad in every way, if you have done everything to make it work and still it does not work because you have become completely estranged, or it is getting violent or abusive, you have every right to come out of it. If you come out of a relationship, give yourself substantial time. Whatever went bad, you contributed 50% to it. Give it at least six months to one year to fix those 50%. You left one ruin behind you; before you create another one, fix your contribution to the destruction that is a responsible way to live.
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Irresponsible living in the name of spirituality has happened plenty. Do not use spirituality as an excuse to change your partner. If you truly want to grow, it is a great advantage to live and work with someone who you do not like. In work partnerships, I always put people together who cannot get along with each other, which complicates many things in Isha Foundation. My life is not about extracting work from people; my life is about fixing their lives. We want work to happen, but the most important thing is if people are growing in the process of doing this work, or are they getting entangled? If that is not taken care of, why should they work here? Let them work in a corporate house where they are well paid. You come here because you want to grow, not because you want to work. Work needs to happen because there are millions of other people who also want to grow and we need to provide a platform for them. But the most important aspect is, are you going beyond your limitations, or are you enshrining your limitations? Saying, He doesnt have the right energy or some such nonsense is not a good enough excuse to drop your husband. If things have gone really bad, everyone has the right to come out of a relationship, but do not whimsically drop people like bad apples there is always a possibility to turn them around. In the Western world, I see a deep sense of hurt in most people. Only a few people are enjoying trustful relationships. Everyone else is in a certain level of insecurity, all the time. This is not freedom. Being emotionally insecure is a terrible bondage. To do something worthwhile, to be truly focused and productive, every human being needs a certain level of stability. If you do not need any kind of relationship, if when you close your eyes, you are just fine, you have the freedom to leave everyone. Hopping from one to another is not good. I have no morality in me; I have only life in me. We must do what works.

June 2013

Enjoy the Drama

Sadhguru on Meditation and Day-to-Day Problems

The following is an excerpt from a meditators sathsang with Sadhguru in Delhi on 7 August 2012.
this experientially, all these problems will be gone in one shot. You have a little family problem today and you are upset. Dont try to treat it with meditation; take a walk, swim, come to your senses. After all, you gathered the family around you for your wellbeing. If it is working against your wellbeing, you really need to look at what you are doing wrong with the whole affair. Did you get married out of charity? You gathered people around you because you are incapable of living alone. If someone is your crutch and you kick the crutch, you are the one who is going to fall flat on your face. Oh Sadhguru, its not so simple. You dont know what all happens on a daily basis. I know all these things. Still, you are losing the perspective in your life. Your meditation is not about handling these petty problems; it is about addressing the most essential problem of human existence. You do not know why you are here and what the nature of your existence is. If you knew the nature of your existence, all these things would be just play. You could play this drama whichever way you want, to whatever extent you want, according to your needs. Everyone need not play the drama to the same extent. Some people like to be engrossed in the drama; some people like to dabble with theater a little bit. Oh, youre calling my family, my work, and my profession drama? If you dont understand this now, you will know it when the curtains come down. You better get it now. At least enjoy the drama; if you suffer the drama, it is such a waste.

Questioner: Im going through some relationship problems at the moment. When I sit and meditate in the morning, and I get an answer to the problem, where does the answer come from? Is it an akashik answer, a divine answer, or just my own mind? Sadhguru: My whole life effort has been to present what is mystical in a simple, logical way so that you can grasp it. But there are a whole lot of people who are trying to make the simple mystical. When the chimes ring, when a flower falls, or when the power goes off, they think there is a mystical dimension to it. Instead of bringing down the mystical within reach of human beings, they try to export simple aspects of life to other dimensions.
First of all, do not try to use your meditation to find solutions for your problems. Why should you not use meditation to settle your problems? Because it is like you have a common cold and you take a little chemotherapy to make it go away. This is a silly way to handle life. Common cold can be handled with tissue paper. You just have to blow your nose for a few days, drink some ginger tea or pepper tea, and it will go away by itself. When you start meditating, you are trying to address the most fundamental problem of human existence do not try to use that for petty things. If you address the most fundamental problem of human existence, all other problems will look silly. If you have not come to the point to see this, thats fine. But still, trying to treat your cold with chemo is not the way. It is unfortunate if only after meditation, you have a little clarity in your mind and the rest of the time, you are one big buzz. The reason for this is a fundamental confusion, which we are trying to settle in a very simple way with the Isha Kriya: Im not the body. Im not the mind. If you understand
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June 2013

Living in a Consecrated Space

A Phenomenal Difference
The following is an excerpt from a session with Sadhguru during the consecration of Linga Bhairavi at the Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, on 29 January 2010.
Consecration is a live process. It is like this: If you transform mud into food, we call this agriculture. If you make food into flesh and bone, we call this digestion. If you make flesh into mud, we call this cremation. If you can make this flesh or a stone or even an empty space into a divine possibility, that is called consecration. Since the world accepts only what is backed up by modern science. Modern science says that everything is the same energy, manifesting itself in a million different ways. If that is so, what you call the Divine, what you call a stone, what you call a man, what you call a woman, what you call a beast, what you call a demon it is all the same energy functioning in different ways. The same electricity can become light, sound, and so many other things, depending upon the technology you use. If it is the same energy functioning in different ways, what you make out of it is just a question of technology. If you have the necessary technology, the simple space around you can be made into divine exuberance. You can make a simple piece of rock into a god or a goddess. This is the phenomenon of consecration. Particularly in this culture, an enormous amount of knowledge about this dimension of life was perpetuated. Creating consecrated spaces was held as the most important thing. No matter who you are or how you live at some point, you will want to get in touch with the source of creation. If that possibility is not created across the planet, if that possibility is not available to every human being who seeks, then the society has failed to provide true wellbeing for a human being. That is why in India, consecrated spaces were created everywhere. The idea was that no one should be in a
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space that is not consecrated. Today, unfortunately, Tamil Nadu has taken on a completely negative culture, but earlier, in every significant town here, first a grand temple was built, and then the houses. What kind of dwelling you live in is not going to make an ultimate difference in your life. But if you are around a consecrate space, it is going to make a phenomenal difference in your life. We want to establish consecrated spaces in as many places as possible. It is my dream that someday, the whole of humanity should live in consecrated spaces. Your home should be consecrated; your street should be consecrated; your office should be consecrated. Wherever you spend time, those spaces must be consecrated. This is the beauty of being human: your evolution need not stick to the Darwinian scale if you live in a consecrated space, you can simply leapfrog.

Create a consecrated space in your home or office with a Linga Bhairavi Yantra!
Next Yantra Ceremony with Sadhguru: 23 June 2013 at the Isha Yoga Center. For more information: 94425 04720; yantra@lingabhairavi.org
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Look Good or Feel Good?

Sadhguru in Conversation with Actor Siddharth

In another edition of the In Conversation with the Mystic series, Sadhguru met with young actor Siddharth on 10 January 2013 in Hyderabad under the theme Youth and Truth. Here is the third part of their conversation.
just becomes necessary to shower. After the shower, do I have to look into the mirror? No, I look the same every day. You have the problem of different levels of facial hair you have to trim it; you have to shave it; you have to keep it in a certain way. I just have to arrange my beard a little, which does not take a mirror I know where it is, and I am done. The mirror does not play such an important role for me because I dont look different on different days. If I close my eyes and just feel through my system for one moment, I know how I look. Whether I radiate or not is decided by that. If it has not worked properly yet, I just have to close my eyes for another few seconds thats all. The question is, do you want to look good or feel good? How wonderful you feel within yourself is more important than how wonderful someone feels by looking at you. If you really feel wonderful, everyone will feel wonderful in your presence. If you are blissed out, everyone who comes in touch with you will begin to experience that, one way or the other. If you look good, maybe you are a piece of art, nothing more. Sculptures can look good; art can look good; anything can look good. I am not saying looking good is a bad thing, but how much time you invest on it in your life clearly tells you who you are, because if you have something of substance within
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Siddharth: A lot of us, and especially young people, give a lot of importance to what we look like from the outside, what people think when they see us. You are being judged by your looks, being taken seriously for what you represent. For example, I particularly put on a black suit today so I would look a little more intelligent I might be wrong but I think it works. [Laughter]
A lot of regular human beings regular in the sense of not being yogis or Gurus depend on the mirror. After they wake up in the morning, they look at the mirror, and many more times during the day. The mirror talks to them; they talk to the mirror. A certain understanding of who they are comes from looking at a mirror. You are able to see a lot of stuff with your eyes open and with your eyes closed what do you see when you look into the mirror? Does the mirror tell you something else? And secondly, when did you start looking like such a cool Guru? This is something that I really need to know.

Sadhguru: My life is such that I am constantly engaged with people, without distance. When I sit here, in many ways, I sort of physically touch them it is difficult to understand this. Because of this, I shower two to five times a day, depending upon the level of activity not to wash myself off of people; it
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you, looking good will not be such a relevant thing. This does not mean that I do not take a little care to look good obviously I do. The important thing is what proportion of attention is going into looking good, and what proportion into feeling good. Today, people cannot take their hands off their hair for a moment. This is simply because there is not enough substance. If you create enough substance within yourself, it does not matter if your hair is up like this or that; people will still love you for who you are. If you want to make an impact in the world, whether as an actor or something else, the impact will happen because of your intensity and your substance, not just because of the arrangement of hair facial or otherwise. [To the audience:] This is a feud between us about facial hair please dont take it seriously.

the stage and sing, for me it is like a bathroom song. Everyone is a bathroom singer, because there is no one else around. For me, there is no one else around at any time, so I simply sing. I dont have raga, tala, or anything I simply sing, and people seem to like it. [Laughs] Thats their musical appreciation. You know, I grew up in the 60s, on rock n roll, Beatles, and stuff like that. We went for that music because of the lyrics, and it made your body jump around a bit. But when you sat down and listened carefully, it was such an incoherent sound. My parents were steeped in classical music, and we hated it. If my father turned on Mani Iyer, we turned on Jethro Tull. [Laughs] We did not want classical music to fall on our ears and spoil our rock n roll. When I became meditative, classical music suddenly captured me, and I thought I should have learned this this is something profound. Since then, it has become so much a part of my life, just by listening to it. I always thought I must take three or six months off, go to some Ustad and learn proper music. This has been a dream that I do not think I will ever fulfill because of the kind of life and activity that I am in. But I have still not given up. When I meet top musicians, I still tell them, One day, I will come to you, hoping that they will drag me one day and I will learn. Yes, I always think I wish, I wish, I wish there are too many I wishes. I am not saying I wish out of frustration, but people believe that I am already into too many things: Sadhguru, you are greedy for life. You are doing too many things. You may kill yourself. It is not that I need to do more. If I close my eyes, I can sit here till I fall dead. Right now, the world exists for me and I am absolutely involved. If I close my eyes, the world just vanishes for me in one moment. The need for action is not there in me, but once I have chosen to do action, I do not know how to do it halfheartedly. My action is always 100% because I do not know how to live life half-heartedly, and no one should know how to live their life half-heartedly. That is why, even in spiritual programs, we bring games and sport, because you can go to work halfJune 2013 9

Siddharth: Its been a feud between me and nature for 20 years. There is just nothing happening on this face. Back to my question there is a common perception that one can be happier when one is more comfortable being oneself. What I am getting at is, I wish I were different in terms of physical appearance and. Sadhguru: I can suggest a doctor to you. [Laughter] You know, I sometimes teach programs in Los Angeles. When I look around there, a lot of women all look the same. Now I know who the doctor is. In earlier times, if all of them looked the same, we would have thought they have a common father. It is better today it is just a common doctor. Siddharth: Where does the urge of wanting something that was not given to you by nature come from? Did you ever wish you had other capabilities that you have not had at that point? Like for example, did you ever think, I wish I could sing better? Has this thought ever crossed your mind, to be in some way different than you are right now? Sadhguru: I have always thought, I wish I could sing better. I have never invested even a day to learn some singing, but since I am utterly shameless, I simply sing. [Laughter] Because I do not consider people as people; I consider them as myself. If I sit on
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heartedly, you can get married half-heartedly but you cannot play a game half-heartedly. If you enter a game, you have to throw yourself into it; otherwise, you will be total rubbish. We always try to encourage people to play some game so that they know what it means to get into something with some sense of abandon. If you do not know this sense of abandon, you will never know what spiritual process means. You have seen those calendar images a man sitting with a constipated look on his face, and of course, he also has a beard. [Laughs] This is not it. Spiritual process means a very heightened level of abandon, where you do not abandon life, you abandon your little personality that you created. Only if you abandon all the little stuff that you have created, the Creators creation will touch you in ways that you have not even imagined possible. The immensity of being human has been lost, simply because humans are continuously dabbling with petty creations of their own.

childlike. Like you said, You cant beat me at riding a motorcycle. I am actually eager to try that out next time I see you.

Sadhguru: Dont try that. Siddharth: I am going to be prepared.

You speak beautifully; you love music; you are tremendously attractive are you romantic at heart? I am a romantic actor. Is Sadhguru a romantic Guru?

Siddharth: Sadhguru, it is fascinating when you look at a really famous and revered person from a distance, and like you said, there are images of Gurus being very serious and very. Sadhguru: I said constipated. Siddharth: Yes. Then suddenly you meet someone like that at close quarters and he is very childlike. Sadhguru: Childlike means I did not grow up? Siddharth: The child that I used to be when I was young. [Laughs] You are so childlike and I dont think it comes from a conscious need to be

Sadhguru: Lets understand the word romance. Romance means a very deep involvement. But unfortunately, people have brought romance down to only a young male and a young female. No, I am definitely an absolute romantic, romancing the whole universe. Why not? Why just the neighborhood girl? The neighborhood girl has become magnified in your eyes because your intelligence has been hijacked by your hormones. If your intelligence is not hijacked by your hormones, the whole universe, every piece of creation is worth involvement, isnt it?
If you pay enough attention, you will see something as small as an ant is a phenomenal creature. If you just see it as a little machine that is moving around and you look at its capability; if you pay attention to it for a lifetime, you will still have things to learn from these mechanics. If you pay enough attention, you cannot help being a romantic. To wonder and be involved with just everything around you is a natural process for human intelligence.

To be continued

Leela Series
The path of the playful Part XLIV

Draupadis Plight
The following is an excerpt from Leela, the path of the playful, a unique exploration with Sadhguru into the mystical realm of Krishna, which took place at the Isha Yoga Center in September 2005.
What happened in the previous episode: With the intention to defeat and humiliate the Pandavas and Draupadi, Duryodhana and Shakuni invited the eldest of the Pandava brothers, Yudhisthira, for a game of dice. Yudhisthira staked and lost not only all their wealth and the kingdom but even his brothers and their wife Draupadi.
The second of the Kaurava brothers, Duhshasana, went and dragged Draupadi by the hair into the court. Such a thing had never happened before in the history of Bharat Varsha. Everyone was disgusted and shocked. But the Kauravas argued from a technical standpoint: They lost the game. Shes a slave woman now. We can do what we want with her. Karna went one step further and said, Even the clothes that you five brothers and this woman are wearing belong to us. You must drop them. The five brothers dropped their outerwear and stood in their undergarments. Draupadi was in a single garment (a sari). They wanted to disgrace them to the limit and tried to disrobe her right there in front of everyone. When Draupadi, in her distress, called out Krishnas name, a miracle happened: however much Duhshasana pulled at her garment, it seemed to extend endlessly, and he gave up at some point. The Pandavas and Draupadi were released and given back their wealth and kingdom, but Yudhisthira agreed to one more game of dice and lost it again. This time, they had to go into the forest for 12 years and subsequently live incognito for a further year. If they had been discovered in that one year, they would have had to go into exile for another 12
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years. They went through this and came back after 13 years, demanding back their kingdom. When Duryodhana refused, Yudhisthira, who did not want a war, said, For the five of us, just give us five villages. Duryodhana still declined, saying, I will not even give five needlepoints of land. This finally led to the Kurukshetra war. When Duhshasana tried to disrobe Draupadi, Bhima took a vow: One day, I will tear open your chest and drink your blood. And Draupadi said, I will not tie my hair again until one of you brings me Dhuhshasanas blood. Only many years later, when Dhushasanas blood was applied on her hair like oil, she tied it again. She was a very fiery woman. She was wise and intelligent, and involved in all the affairs of the state, but she was also burning with rage for what she had been put through. How to fix injustice against women today? In cities, the law may work to some extent. In remote, rural areas, it is still only social law, and not legal law that works. Many terrible things happen, but not only to women. It just seems more unjust when it happens to a woman because she is physically more helpless than a man. Injustice, pain, and disgrace happen to anyone who is powerless, whether it is a man or a woman. It is better to address injustice as such rather than making it a gender issue. Injustice has to stop on all levels, or at least we have to see to it that it is minimized. Either we work for establishing dharma, or we condone adharma. It is not just about not doing anything wrong; it is also about not allowing wrong things to happen. Maybe, we cannot stop everything, but there are many things we can stop. Everyone has to do their own dharmayuddha1 around themselves and especially within themselves. First you have to fight the corruption within you.

To be continued

Sanskrit: honest fight

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Join Green Hands in Celebrating World Environment Day!

This years World Environment Day is coming up on 5 June 2013. Green Hands has a way for you to participate in this global event and take positive environmental action without even having to leave the house. But first, lets look at our environmental situation. What kind of world will our children have to deal with in the future if we dont take action now? Here are three major concerns, as pointed out in the World Banks climate change report Turn Down the Heat:

Extreme Weather
In a warmer world, dry areas will become drier and wet areas wetter. The drought in the United States in 2012 impacted about 80% of agricultural land. By 2100, half of all farm land in the world is expected to be drought-hit. An average of 500 weather-related disasters now take place each year, compared to 120 in the 1980s. The number of floods has increased six-fold. Rainfall levels in wet areas could increase a further 2030% in a 4C warmer world.

Extreme Heat
Unless human beings cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, the world is likely to be warmer by more than 4C in 100 years. This will not be the end. Further warming of over 6C will follow in the centuries to come. The frequency and intensity of heat waves across the globe has already increased. In 2010, a heat wave hit Russia, killing 55,000, destroying 25% of the crops, burning a million hectares, and costing Russia 15 billion dollars. In a 4C warmer world, such temperatures would be considered normal, and heat waves would occur regularly. The coolest months in such a climate would be substantially warmer than the warmest months were at the end of the 20th century.
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Food Shortages
In the next decade alone, a further 100 million women and children are expected to join the existing 500 million who are undernourished. By 2050, fisheries and livestock will collapse, and agriculture will suffer under prolonged droughts and heat waves, resulting in less food per person. Resources will get scarcer. Elizabeth Hadly, Professor of Biology at Stanford University, says, We may already be past these tipping points in particular regions of the world. I just returned from a trip to the high Himalayas in Nepal, where I witnessed families fighting each other with
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machetes for wood wood that they would burn to cook their food in one evening.

What we can do
Studies show that the last century of human activity has made a rise in global temperatures virtually inevitable. The question is no longer whether temperatures will rise; the question is how much they will rise. Hearteningly, numerous studies show that there are technically and economically feasible solutions that will probably hold warming below 2C. Will we make it happen? Will our children hate us for what we did not do, or will they thank us for what we did? As individuals, the easiest way we can reduce our carbon footprint is by planting trees.

Green Hands not only plants and nurtures YOUR trees; it also lets you track their exact location, and even the name of the farmer who grows them for you. Donate Rs.100/US$ 2 per tree and see your trees grow! (This includes post-planting care and replanting for two years until your trees can sustain themselves.)

How you can get Green Hands to plant trees for you:
Log on to www.giveisha.org/pgh or Send a cheque/DD in favor of ISHA OUTREACH to Isha Yoga Center, Velliangiri Foothills, Semmedu P.O.Coimbatore 641 114. (Please mention your email address and phone number.)

Become a Greenie its just a click away!

Planting trees is the simplest solution to todays environmental crisis. Generally, a mature tree produces about 260 pounds of oxygen to sustain a family of four. But, in todays circumstances, each of us must plant at least five trees to compensate for what we consume on the planet, in an effort to reduce our carbon footprint.

Project GreenHands,

For more information: +9194425 90081 info@projectgreenhands.org www.projectgreenhands.org

India A Phenomenon of Possibilities

Sadhgurus Talk at Emory University
Sadhguru was invited to give the 2013 Sheth Lecture in Indian Studies at Emory University on 14 April 2013. The following excerpt from Sadhguru Spot of 17 April 2013 has the gist of his talk:
This week, I was to address the faculty and students of Emory University. Members of the public were also invited and the chapel in the University Campus was full with over 1200 people. This lecture was organized by an endowment of an Indian family of professors dedicated towards Indian and South Asian studies. India cannot be studied. At the least, one must soak it in, or at best, one must dissolve into it these are the only ways. Western analysis of India is too off the mark, as symptomatic analysis of Bharat will only lead to very grossly misunderstood conclusions of a nation that revels and thrives in a chaos that is organic and exuberant. This most ancient of nations upon this earth is not built upon a set of principles or beliefs or ambitions of its citizenry. It is a nation of seekers, seeking not wealth or wellbeing, but liberation, not of economic or political kind, but the ultimate liberation. A Godless but a devout nation. When I say Godless, we need to understand that this is the only culture that has given humans the freedom not just to make a choice of gods, but to create the sort of god that you can relate to. When Adiyogi was asked how many ways to enlightenment, he said only 112 if you are within the realm of your physical system, but if you transcend the physical, then every atom in the universe is a doorway. Bharat, as the nation has been known for many millennia, is a complex amalgamation of this variety of spiritual possibilities. If you every happened to be at the Maha Kumbh, there is quite a display of this. The best compliment came from none other than Mark Twain. After his visit to India, he said, So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary
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country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked. India is not a study, but a phenomenon of possibilities. Though a cauldron of multiple cultural, ethnic, religious, and linguistic soup, it is all held together by a single thread of seeking. This tremendous longing has been nurtured into the peoples of the land, the longing to be free free from the very process of life and death. One must not forget that the basis of seeking is that one has realized that one does not know; one does not know the nature of ones being. Instead of settling for a culturally convenient belief, a whole populace had the courage and commitment to seek the truth themselves. This is the basis of this nation that is called Bharata. Bha meaning sensation, that is the basis of all experience and expression; Ra meaning Raga, the tune and texture of life; Ta meaning Tala, the rhythms of life, which include the rhythms of the human system and those of nature. This is a nation that was conjured not in the minds of the ambitious, but by the sages; not for profit but in profoundness. Bharat is not to be seen as just another political entity but as a gateway to the fulfillment of the innermost longings of the human creature. The fundamental ethos of Bharat needs to be preserved, protected, and nurtured. The legacy of wisdom and unbridled exploration of life is a true gift to Humanity as a whole. As a generation, this is an important responsibility that we should fulfill. Let not the limitless possibilities that the sages of this land explored and expounded be lost in religious bigotry and senseless simplistic dogmas.

Sadhguru

June 2013

Sadhguru at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

The response to Sadhgurus keynote address at MIT Sloan School of Managements Business Conference in October 2012 was so overwhelmingly positive that he was asked to return to MIT on 23 April 2013 to deliver a workshop which he entitled Gearing for Success. A volunteer shares:
As an entrepreneur myself, struggling to be successful, I was grateful to have the opportunity to volunteer for this event, as well as to sit in on Sadhgurus presentation to MBA students and professional attendees. Sadhguru began by defining the word itself: Success. Everyone wants to be successful a mother who bakes a cake for her two children wants to be successful the same way as the CEO of a company wants to be successful in his business. Her need to be successful is not any less. Whether we are doing things big or small, the need for success is always there. A leader of an organization works long hours and sleeps and eats less because all his actions and thoughts are geared towards achieving his goals and being successful. However, there are a lot of people who are very successful in life, but they are not happy. Instead of enjoying their success, they suffer it because they start working for other peoples expectations. A person can be truly happy with his success only when he finds full expression of who he is and functions to his or her full capacity. Sadhguru talked about committing oneself to creating what one really cares for. If one does that, then regardless of the goal, one will enjoy the process of all the things that are needed to be done
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to achieve it. A business leader should look beyond economic objectives and create goals that include the wellbeing of everyone in the organization. Sadhguru referred to people asking him why he started new projects every day and if he wasnt ever afraid of failure. Absolutely not; fear of failure restricts one from doing anything. If he thinks something is worth a try, then he will start as many projects as he can. Of course, you cannot control most of the things happening around you. But you should be in control of what is happening within you. Yoga helps to keep the physical body, the mental body, ones life energies and emotions properly aligned. Once these are aligned, your ability to do things improves tremendously. Sadhguru spoke about the importance of distancing oneself from the mind and body and offered a means to accomplish this by finishing the session with Isha Kriya. Following the talk, a dinner was served by local Isha volunteers to the student participants, who were very grateful for the delicious, home-cooked meal. On the way back home, I was full of energy and life in spite of an extra-long and busy day. For me, the day had started quite early with cooking and coordinating the delivery of food prepared by other volunteers, followed by the set-up of the event, serving dinner, the late-night clean-up, and a long drive home. Ultimately, I realized that this event had turned into a beautiful opportunity for me to understand what it means to work with willingness, to give myself totally to what is to be done while putting my personality aside.

Parija, Isha volunteer

June 2013 15

Grace Multiplied

The Isha Institute of Inner Sciences (iii) was graced by the first Pournami Pooja in the US on 24 April, and a 3--day sathsang with Sadhguru from 25 to 28 April 2013.

Pournami Pooja and Sathsang with Sadhguru at iii

incredible. The lamps, the process of entry, and the echoing chants reverberated within me. It connected me to Linga Bhairavi in a deep way, to the feminine powers of our world, and to the full moon.

Ye Devi!
The Pournami Pooja on the 24th was an extraordinary night of offering, devotion, and grace. A celebration of the full moon and the divine feminine, the pooja conducted by the Bhairagini Maas took place in Mahima, which was transformed into the abode of Devi. Offerings of flowers, fruits, coconuts, and sweets were spread in front of her, as Linga Bhairavi stood radiant, fierce, and compassionate.

Stacy Christensen, Isha meditator, Utah

For many of the around 650 attendees, this was their introduction to Linga Bhairavi. Her powerful presence inevitably drew everyone to her. As Sadhguru entered the hall, the process began with chanting, offerings of dance and song, and the Devi Pooja followed by the Aarti. Deeply touched, many shed tears of love and devotion. Sadhguru then asked the participants to soak in the moonlight outside. Though the moon hid its face behind the clouds, its gentle grace reached all.

The Pooja was beyond my expectations. The beauty and care taken in creating a lovely atmosphere was

Sathsang with Sadhguru

On the next day, 25 April, the 3-1/2-day Sathsang with Sadhguru began in the morning with Guru Pooja. Participants had the opportunity to sleep in Mahima throughout the program. One of them shared, Sleeping in Mahima is such a gift. I love resting in its grace. On the first day, Sadhguru spoke about wondering, and about how science and religion have destroyed our ability to simply look around and wonder. Sadhguru asked the participants to spend the evening sitting and simply wondering. Other themes brought up were death, grief, and how to make this lifetime the last one and liberate oneself from the process of rebirth. Sadhguru shared a poem about cremation and spoke about his trip to Kashi, the sacred city where many choose to die and be cremated. Sadhguru also spoke in depth about sleep. He said that in the US, the vast majority of people are not sleeping properly. He joked that he would release a Sleep App for assisted sleep! He led participants through an intense process that concluded by falling asleep in the lap of the Creator, free of harm and
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pain. Many people noticed a difference in the quality of their sleep after the process. On the final day, the discussion was mostly about the upcoming Adiyogi Shrine at the iii. Residents had cleared the land right after the plan was announced, as Sadhguru was eager to begin construction immediately. He spoke about the need for this powerful space in the US, and the role of the US as a trendsetter in the world. He hinted about additional plans to raise awareness of Adiyogi in the US through media such as books and movies. The participants were so enthusiastic they began donating for the construction on the spot. A participant shared his experience of spending 3-1/2 days with Sadhguru:

Having never been to a sathsang with Sadhguru, I didnt know what to expect. The experience was profound and transformational. Though there were over 600 participants, at times it felt like the discourse was directed solely at me. Sadhguru addressed all the questions and doubts I had, and I never even asked a question aloud. I am excited about the shrine, but I can honestly admit I know nothing about its true magnitude. No doubt it will leave a lasting impression on our whole nation.

Ross, Isha meditator, Albany, NY

June 2013 17

Sadhguru Spot
Musings from the Master

Take-Off from Boston

Nearing midnight on a little turboprop taxiing for take-off from Boston. Here for a session at MIT on Gearing for Success. Boston is just recovering from a week-old scare; tomorrow is the memorial service. The perpetrators of this ghastly act are young men; the innocent looking face of the younger of the brothers is disturbing at the least. This boy, 19 years of age, could be any of our children, yet how they have been demonized by the propaganda of religious machinery does not augur well for this world.

Excerpted from Sadhguru Spot 24 April 2013

Religious philosophies that have world-conquering ambitions have the propensity for causing a grievous blow to all life upon the planet. In the last two millennia, there has been much uninstigated violence, violence unleashed upon various people of the world by the religious groups across the planet. This landscape of violence that they have left, continuously talking about peace, love, and compassion, is abhorrent and has scary scenarios hidden in them. It is time to address some fundamental causes that propel these types of violent actions in the name of religion. It is time that the public discourse moves from the politically correct stance to striving for solutions for the ills of our times. There is some very strong stimulus for violence against all who do not share the belief that some have chosen or been taught to believe. These anomalies are there in the very sacred texts that are purported to be the words of God. For whatever reason that these words of instigation got into sacred books, it is time that what is not
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suitable or palatable for our times is expunged God willing. We can ask, if God says nothing, it would not be a crime to take it as an affirmative. Ensuring that no one needs to be a Gods soldier is the absolute need of the day. For all the other causes of violence, at some point, we can find solutions, but there is no solution for those who fight for their gods. You cannot wean them of that, as it is an eternal cause and damnation for the world. Only if all religious groups are willing to start looking at the prospect of upgrading or expunging stimuli for violence from their sacred books will there be possibility of solution. Not any one group, but all should strive. It is not going to be an easy exercise, but it has to start at some point of time. This weekend at Atlanta over 1100 people at the 3-day Inner Engineering. Session was a blast. The sheer variety of people is very interesting. Past midnight and the two propeller engines are roaring and hurtling us through the moonlit sky. The wingless creatures that we are, that we can even fly is a blessing. Thanks to Lilienthal, the brothers from Dayton, Ohio, and all those who strived, and those who died for aviation as we know it today. What an immense gift.

Love & Grace

Visit: Sadhguru.org/spot for weekly updated Musings from the Master

April June 2013

Hata Yoga A Way of Life and of Making a Living

I am incapable of being depressed; otherwise I would be depressed looking at the way Hata Yoga is being practiced around the world, and people think that this is what it is. The practice as you see it, the mechanics of it, is simply of the body. You have to breathe life into it; otherwise it will not become alive. This is why, traditionally, there has been so much stress on a live Guru to make it alive. The yogic system is a subtle manipulation of your system to allow you to attain to your higher nature. Every asana, every mudra, every way of breathing is focused towards this. After decades of yoga entering the West and becoming popular, medical professionals are now coming forth and making studies and saying, Yoga has benefits. Right now the number of people practicing yoga even the simplest Hata Yoga is growing in a big way simply because the scientific community is slowly beginning to recognize the depth and dimension of what it is. Though it is taught in frivolous ways, still the health benefits of it are undeniable. But if improper, distorted kind of yoga spreads, in 10 to 15 years time, scientific studies will tell you in how many ways it is harmful to human beings, and that will be the downfall. If Hata Yoga is taught in a proper atmosphere with a certain sense of humility and inclusiveness about the whole process, it is a fantastic process of shaping your system into a fabulous device to receive the Divine. There are certain dimensions of Hata Yoga that are almost absent in the world today. I would like to bring those dimensions. It is a very powerful way of living. Power not over someone else power to access life.

- Sadhguru

Learn to teach classical Hata Yoga!

We are excited to announce the second Isha Hata Yoga Teacher Training Program, from 22 July to 16 December 2013 at the Isha Yoga Center. The 21-week program, devised by Sadhguru, is a wonderful opportunity for one to receive training in classical Hata Yoga. Open to meditators and non-meditators, it is an unparalleled possibility to experience and acquire a profound understanding of the yogic system and also transmit it to others. Upon completion of training, students will be qualified to establish their own studio or teach private Hata Yoga lessons. Post-training support will be provided by Isha.

To learn more about the Isha Hata Yoga Teacher Training Program, visit www.ishahatayoga.com, email us at india@ishahatayoga.com or call +9198490 11600.

Program Highlights
Date
1 Jun 2013

Program
Sathsang
Conducted by Sadhguru

Place
London, W2 2TY UK Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore India Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore India Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore India

Contact
programmes.uk@ishafoundation.org

69 Jun 2013

Inner Engineering Retreat

Residential Program

0422-2515421 maa.karpoori@ishafoundation.org

Samyama (Tamil) 1219 Jun 2013

Residential Program Conducted by Sadhguru

0422-2515300

1316 Jun 2013

Inner Engineering Retreat

Residential Program

0422-2515421 maa.karpoori@ishafoundation.org
98814 08561, 98600 73950 pune@ishayoga.org

1925 Jun 2013

Inner Engineering Bhava Spandana

Pune India

2023 Jun 2013

Residential Program Gents; English/Hindi

Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore India Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore India Navi Mumbai India Bangalore India

0422-2515300

23 Jun 2013

Yantra Ceremony with Sadhguru Inner Engineering Inner Engineering

Conducted by Sadhguru

94425 04720 yantra@lingabhairavi.org 99874 00339, 81089 00080 mumbai@ishayoga.org 92434 10136, 90360 67181 bangalore@ishayoga.org Chennai, Vellore: 83000 11000 / 044 24333185 Coimbatore: 94434 94434 For other centers, please check our website. 0422-2515421 maa.karpoori@ishafoundation.org

39 Jul 2013

57 Jul 2013

1214 Jul 2013

Sadhguruvudan Isha Yoga (Tamil)

Residential Program Conducted by Sadhguru

Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore India

1821 Jul 2013

Inner Engineering Retreat

Residential Program

Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore India

These programs are conducted in English, unless indicated otherwise. Current at the time of print, however subject to change. For full program schedules and updates, please visit our website: www.ishafoundation.org.
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Isha Recipes
Serves Two

For Healthy Living

Watermelon Juices with a Twist

Watermelon mint juice
Ingredients Medium-size watermelon Fresh ginger 1 inch piece cup Fresh mint leaves Salt to taste Black pepper powder to taste Sugar 3 tablespoons Preparation Method
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Cut off the rind of the watermelon and remove the seeds with the tip of a knife. Cut the pulp into pieces and place them in the jar of a blender. Peel the ginger, crush it, and add it to the jar. Wash the mint leaves and add them, along with salt, pepper powder, and sugar. Blend everything until smooth. Pass through a strainer. Pour the juice into glasses and serve.

Quick tip: Instead of fresh ginger, mint leaves, black pepper powder, and salt, you could use Jaljeera powder (a blend of cumin, ginger, black pepper, chili, mint, black salt, and fruit powder).

Watermelon Papaya Smoothie

Ingredients 1 thick slice Watermelon Ripe papaya 2 Strawberries Honey to taste Preparation Method 1. Cut off the rind of the watermelon and remove the seeds with the tip of a knife. Cut the pulp into pieces and place them in the jar of a blender.
2. 3. 4. 5.

Chop the papaya and the strawberries and add them to the jar as well. Blend everything until smooth. Now add cup crushed ice cubes and blend again. Add honey to taste and pour into glasses. Serve immediately.

Watermelon not only reduces body fat, lowers LDL cholesterol, and cleans plaque from arteries, but also lowers blood pressure, aids cell division, and enhances blood circulation. Two cups of watermelon have less than 100 calories.
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